The Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) has informed the High Court that a High-Level Review Committee (HLRC) chaired by former Supreme Court judge Indu Malhotra will be established to evaluate the institution’s performance over the past five years.
This assurance was given following allegations of harassment of a queer student and the rape of a female student at the university.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee is hearing a suo motu PIL (public interest litigation) on the matter. Previously, the bench had described the findings of a committee investigating the students’ allegations as “alarming”.
During a hearing on the suo motu PIL, Advocate General Kamal Trivedi, representing the GNLU, informed the bench that the university’s governing council convened on March 23 and decided to establish the HLRC. In addition to Justice Indu Malhotra, the committee will include Attorney General R Venkataramani and former additional chief secretary of the State Finance Department MM Srivastava as its members.
Trivedi also mentioned that a sub-committee will be formed by the university “for the reconstitution of a transparent and vigilant Internal Complaints Committee,” consisting of Additional Advocate General Manisha Luvkumar Shah and senior advocate Asim Pandya.
“The Governing Council was deeply concerned about the welfare of the university’s students and therefore urged the university to take all possible measures to create a safe and secure environment so that students do not hesitate to come forward with such experiences,” Trivedi told the bench while reading out the GNLU’s affidavit.
To address these concerns, the Governing Council has decided to establish the HLRC with the objective of “assessing the university’s performance over the past five years in academics, administration, finance, as well as safety and security aspects of students, and suggesting further corrective measures for the future,” he added.
Trivedi further stated that the reports of both committees will be presented before the Executive Council of the GNLU. He also mentioned that the council instructed the university administration to appoint a full-time Registrar for GNLU immediately.
After considering GNLU’s submissions, Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal instructed the university to submit an Action Taken Report before the next hearing scheduled for April 29.
During the previous hearing on February 28, the bench had described the findings of the committee investigating allegations of harassment and rape at GNLU as “alarming”. Upon reviewing parts of the report, submitted in a sealed cover, the bench expressed shock at the “incidents of molestation, rape, discrimination, homophobia, favouritism, suppression of voices” occurring at the institute. “This report is truly alarming,” the court had remarked while addressing the suo motu PIL initiated based on a newspaper report dated September 22, 2023.
